NEW YORK, May 5. /TASS/. Air superiority and large fleet reserves will give Russia an advantage, if Kiev launches a counteroffensive, the US weekly news magazine Newsweek reported on Friday.

The Russians "have an almost overwhelming level of air superiority they have not introduced into the war yet. Russia has in reserve a very large fleet 10 times" that of Ukraine, Dale Buckner, CEO of international security firm Global Guardian, told the magazine.

"So there's a real tactical risk on the ground for the Ukrainians if they don't have proper air defense and if they don't have multiple layers of air defense," he said.

The New York Times earlier reported that Western weapons supplies to Kiev could not guarantee the success of the Ukrainian army’s counteroffensive because Russia’s heavy armaments, aircraft and armor still gave Moscow an advantage.

Acting Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin earlier said that the West would make Kiev launch the counteroffensive to show the result from Western financing.

Kiev’s anticipated counteroffensive has been speculated in the media over the past few months, with various dates mentioned. Russia’s Foreign Ministry earlier said that Kiev’s expected counteroffensive openly discussed by Western countries proved that they were directly involved in the conflict.